RATINGS

Kong: Skull Island [2017] ★★★

Behold: One of the oldest and most iconic monsters in film history returns to the big screen. Kong has come a long way since he starred in the 1933 classic movie that spawned many spinoffs and reboots (the last of them being Peter Jackson’s majestic 2005 “King Kong”). “Skull Island” was produced by the same people who gave us the 2014 version of “Godzilla”. Fans can rest assured that unlike Godzilla, Kong is the main attraction here and he’s the reason why this version is so entertaining. That doesn’t mean that they’re trying to reinvent the wheel: the movie gives its audience exactly what they would expect from a Kong film, and then some. Tom Hiddleston leads a solid cast as a team of explorers and soldiers decide to travel to an uncharted island, unaware that they’re crossing path with Kong, who’s “King around here”. While some of these characters are genre archetype (especially Samuel L. Jackson), I’m glad to say that they all deliver the goods. In the same vein, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (“The Kings of Summer”) knows exactly how to stage pulse-pounding scenes featuring the giant monster (in fact, this is the biggest Kong you’ll ever see onscreen). There’s even comedy relief, courtesy of John C. Reilly, who delivers some of the funniest lines in the movie. Although he’s never tackled anything in this genre, or on this scale before, director Vogt-Robers deserves credit for orchestrating all the components of this big budget film. As a result, “Kong: Skull Island” entertained me from start to finish. Do not miss it on the big screen!

P.S: There’s a post-credit scene, so make sure to stay right until the end.